Super Glued Mirrors
by sayaXIII
Summary: When Audrey's mother dies, she leaves her a house on the opposite side of the country. Determined to get away from old ghosts, Audrey takes off for Forks. When old ghosts follow her, can a shy wolf show her a world where she belongs? EmbryxOC
1. Prologue

**Heads up to anyone who reads this: I am not particularly a fan of Twilight. I have no problem if the books are taken as what they are: pure fiction. It's when people start obsessing when I get a little twitchy. So, if sometimes my characters seem a little...off, or if my OC's get a little snappish, it's probably because there is something there in the story that bugs me.**

**Anywho, this is an angsty fic, mostly because I think the characters spend too much time whining when they don't really have that big of problems. (Apologies to fans, it's just my opinion.) Well, it's also kind of dark because of the character from Twilight that I'm going to be using. Therefore I apologize in advance to anyone who gets offended, and for any little details that don't seem to fit. The last time I read any of these books was probably over a year ago. Make that possibly two.  
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**If you like it, enjoy and please read on!  
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**(Nothing belongs to me that you recognize from the books)**

* * *

**Age 12**

Small windows looking out over small lives and small lights. Inside it's dark, the only light on is in the hallway to the apartment. Darkness is so alien to the city that never sleeps. The city carries on beneath the twelfth story window.

They say cats can survive falls from higher than the seventh story.

"Mom? When's Dad getting home?"

"Later, he'll be back later." The words come out, but neither one really believes it anymore.

"I bet he's having an affair," is the pouted reply. The blond head turns to stare out the window. A sharp intake of breath is her answer. It's also a warning. Broken glass echoes through the apartment and both heads turn towards the kitchen.

"Stupid Merlin," the girl mutters. "Stupid cat, always getting into things. You stay here, Mom, I'll get it. Merlin!" A cat yowls in response.

The digital clock on the window reads out the time. 11:57. The neon light barely helps to illuminate a face worn beyond its years. The woman scans the passersby one last time.

"He said he'd be back by ten," she murmurs softly to the clock. "He promised. He promised." She turns her wedding ring around her finger. Another promise.

"Mom?" The child peers in again. "You alright?"

Her mother smiles at her. "I'm fine, honey. I'm fine." Both of them sigh and look at the clock. 11:59.

"Maybe he won't come back," the girl muses as she slumps back to her seat by the window. "Maybe he'll get killed in an accident on the way back, and we can take his money and lea-"

"He's coming back," is the soft cut off. Blue eyes look at tired brown ones. The blue eyes shut and sigh.

"Sure sure. He'll come back. And it will get worse!" A fist slams down on the window sill, making the clock jump. 12:00 a.m. "He'll be drunk, and smell like a woman! Then he'll go to work, drink, win some, lose some, get promoted, and stay out even later! He'll take more trips, until _we're_ the ones left behind, and...and...shit."

"Hey! Young lady, that is not the kind of language I have taught you, is it?" For the first time that night, there is fire in the tired brown eyes. It quickly fades as they wander back to the clock. 12:02 a.m. "Where is he...?" The question doesn't really need an answer. It doesn't really want one.

"Mom, are you okay?"

* * *

**Age 15**

Rain sprinkles down on the casket as it is lowered six feet into the ground. All around eyes stream, noses run, and sobs are muffled by tissues. Black umbrellas spread across each other as the gathering huddles around the grave.

_Amber Delancey-Gray. Loving mother, giving wife._

All eyes run, except for the three pairs standing at the head of the grave. One belongs to a man dressed in a crisp black suit, holding an umbrella over himself and the woman next to him. She sniffles in sympathy and leaks a few tears. His dark hair is combed back perfectly.

The other dry eyes are that of the priest reading out the standard lines. The young man behind him holding the umbrella keeps his head down.

The last pair belongs to the late woman's daughter. She stands without an umbrella, shielded from the rain by the one her grandfather holds. Staring across the grave to the dry-eyed man and the woman standing behind him, she rips a flower apart, petal by petal, and lets each white shard fall into the darkness at her feet. What sorrow is in her eyes is overwritten by anger.

The priest closes his book and leaves. Family members gather to toss in flowers and bits of dirt. The man turns and leaves after another minute of staring. The woman trots to keep up, chatting actively about the next court case that awaits him.

"You don't have to come back for another three or four days, I figure. Time of mourning and all that." The words and the bubbly tone float back towards the gathering, in complete opposition to the somber surroundings. Blue eyes glare towards the two retreating backs. A warm and wrinkled hand presses on her shoulder.

As everyone leaves, the girl stands to stare down into the ground for another few minutes. Plucking a rose out of a bouquet someone left, she tosses it down. A clump of dirt lands on top, obscuring the red even more. Someone calls her name, and she waves to let them know she's coming.

"See you later, Mom." The whispered words come out of chapped lips, and form foggy clouds in the air.

_Later that day._

"Repeat that. Say it again!" The man roars, furious. The advocate at the head of the table jumps and stutters.

"'I, Amber Delancey, leave everything I own to my daughter, Audrey,'" comes the nervous reply. The man fumes, glaring daggers first at the advocate – who visibly shrinks and pales – then to the girl sitting across from him and next to the advocate.

"What does that mean," he says with forced patience. "That she leaves everything to her?" He points a finger across the table. Blue eyes avoid his, staring at badly painted nails and the edge of the table.

"It means _just that_, sir," the advocate replies more strongly. "This is her last will, and she leaves _everything_ to her daughter. Now, do you have a complaint?" For the first time that day, blue eyes spark up to stare directly back at the man.

"Got a problem, Dad?" The sarcastic question is shot, meant to sting more than mean anything.

"She can't _do_ that! _I'm_ her _husband_. I should get something!" he growls. The advocate looks at the girl as she shrugs.

"Jealous much? Because she loved me instead of you?" she murmurs. "What's she doing here?" Her chin juts out to motion towards the woman sitting to his right. The woman jumps and looks away.

"Heather is here because I have an important case awaiting me."

"Okay, then. Use up your alloted 'mourning time' then and get on with it," she sighs. "I'm done here. And don't even think about trying to get any of my inheritance. It's mine, got that?"

"You will speak to me with _respect,_" her father growls, standing as she gets up to leave.

"Oh sure," she retorts. "When you turn back the clock and apologize to Mom." Reaching into the little purse she's carrying, she pulls out a broken digital clock, the face still reading a time. 2:56. Placing it down on the table, she leaves and waits out in the hall.

* * *

**Age 17**

"I've had enough of this, young lady." Her father is growling at her as she takes off worn high tops, the white toes colored with sharpie, and places them next to the door. Her blue eyes hold only contempt and boredom as she crosses her arms. Jeans slung low on her hips highlight hip bones that press against the denim.

"That's nice. So have I. Now, can I go to sleep? I have school later today." As she starts to push past, he grabs her arm.

"Do you know what time it is?!" Eyes flash to the clock on the wall. 2:55.

"One minute ahead of you," she growls.

Her father fumes. "You stay out late, you get into fights, and your teachers send you to detention for mouthing off in class. Do you have any idea how that reflects on me?!" The final shout echoes through the apartment. A glass breaks in the kitchen.

"Can I go clean up after my cat?" she asks, shrugging out of his hold.

"You stupid animal!" a female voice curses. A cat yowls and the feline culprit sprints down the hall. Blue eyes go wide.

"You brought her over _again??_" she accuses. "How could you?!"

"It's been almost two years," is the calm reply. Eyes glare at each other.

"I want out of this house. I feel sick," she says.

"Don't even think of pulling that crap with me again, young lady!"

"Mom left me a house, you know! I could live there without you. I don't need you!" Hateful words pass through the air. Half an hour later doors slam at opposite ends of the apartment.

One month later her father is fired for being involved with his secretary, and Audrey is on probation for another fight. The decision is made to move out of the state. Bags are packed, the apartment sold, and visitors come to say goodbye.

"You really should have hit him harder if you were just gonna leave anyway," said a brunette as she helped her friend pack.

"Yeah, I wish. He was a real jerk," laughs the girl. "I'm done!" Flopping onto the mattress, she observes the boxes in her room.

"How can you be leaving me? And during senior year, too!" her friend fake sobs, sitting down beside her.

"Honestly? Maybe it will be good for me. Who knows. Whatever. I don't care anymore."

"Are you okay?" Her friend peers at her. She gets a wane smile in return.

"Yeah, fine. Hey, you want to come with me real quick? I have something I need to do." Her blond hair bounces as she jumps off the bed.

"Going to say goodbye?" Audrey just nods. "I'll come. Just let me grab my coat."


	2. New Faces, Old Places

**Chapter One! Well, the real chapter one. The other one was just supposed to be more of a preface thing. And hey! What do you know? People are actually reading this! It feels nice.**

**This is kind of a slow chapter, more of setting things up. If I ramble (and I know I do), I apologize and feel free to tell me that I am doing so. (Please also tell me if you spot horrible spelling/grammar. I try to check as best I can, but I know that I miss sometimes).**

**Audrey & co. are mine. Anyone you recognize from Twilight = not mine. Stephenie Meyer can keep them.**

***insert witty phrase here***

**Enjoy!  
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* * *

**Ch 1 – New Faces, Old Places**

Some dreams are exactly that – dreams. Bits and pieces of nonsensical realities, tied together in our subconsciousness. Others are more realistic, warnings and foresights of what's to come. Others are memories.

_"Mom, I wanna go home. It's cold here," Audrey pouts. She's four years old and standing on a rocky beach. It hardly even counts as a beach. Full of rocks instead of sand, and wearing pants and a coat instead of just her swimsuit, it certainly doesn't feel like a summer vacation._

_ Amber Delancey gives her daughter a smile, and laughs. Her hair is the blond color it used to be, before she started dying it dark. "Precious, you haven't even tried the water yet." Audrey stares at the water, horrified at the thought of taking off her warm jacket and stepping into the icy surf. "Besides," her mother adds, staring at the waves, "I had to make sure you saw this place just once. Just once."_

_ "Mom?"_

_ …_

"Wake up, Audrey, we're here already." The car screeches in protest to the sudden stop as Audrey opens her eyes. Getting out of the car her father mutters unintelligible curses about the rain and location.

_Bother. Dreaming again._ Sitting up in the passenger's seat, Audrey groans and stretches in the small bug.

The house is small, meant for no more than two or three people. Painted a pale blue, the shutters are worn to a gray. Someone has put red flowers on the front porch. All the windows are dark. Audrey looks up to the second story that only extends over half the house. To the right is another house, in a similar style. Forest started barely one hundred feet from the back of the house, with a small trail barely visible from the car.

"There's not even a garage," she mutters to herself. Her father is walking towards the front door, fumbling with a set of keys. The door sticks, and he kicks it to get it open. "Great, Mom, you left me an old shack." Rolling her eyes towards the ceiling, Audrey gets out and slams the door.

"No slamming the car doors!" her father shouts from inside the house.

"It's my car!" she yells back. No reply. _Jerk._ At the back of the car Audrey grabs her suitcase and hauls it inside. The light in the front room is on, revealing an open first floor, the only wall separating the living room from the kitchen. Stairs on the right lead up to the second story.

"What the hell's that _smell_?"

"Don't you talk to me that way!" Standing in the doorway to the kitchen, Mark Grey glares around the house. "Well, isn't this a dump."

Audrey snorts. "Right. So, I can't complain, but you can make all the remarks you want. Great rule there, Dad." Grabbing the handle, Audrey walks over to the stairs, the wheels of the suitcase squeaking wetly on the wood floor. At the top she yells down, "Don't forget that this is _my house!_"

"You can't get rid of me yet!"

_I wish._ Mulling over the court decision that Audrey would live with her father until she turned eighteen or an appropriate guardian could be found, she walked into her room. Looking around she realized that she had to have been here before, if only when she was very small. The wall paper was a cheerful yellow with a white trim, the curtains white and lacey. Audrey snorted at them. She would definitely have to order new ones. These would barely conceal anything from anyone outside! Although no one here was likely to hang around, anyway.

Feeling sorry for herself, Audrey plopped down on the bed. At least this was full sized. She lay back and stared at the ceiling. If she turned her head to the right, she could see the door and a desk – too small now – that held a picture of her and her mother when they were younger. If she turned her head to the left, she saw the window and tree tops. Audrey sighed. Success, she wouldn't have to move to watch anything. At least the ceiling wasn't sloped and offered dancing patterns of shadow and light as the rain fell down outside.

Audrey woke with a start. Suddenly it was dark in the room, and the rain was falling harder. Groping around for a light switch, she flicked it on and looked at her watch. 8: 16.

"Bloody, old, festering, stupid, dingbat father!" she cursed to herself. "I've been asleep for _six hours_ and he never even woke me up for dinner! I swear..." Continuing to mutter to herself, she grabbed her hoodie, preparing to go back out into the rain as her father had no doubt left the rest of her belongings in the car.

Passing the bathroom, she stopped inside to look at herself in the mirror. Blue eyes that normally sparked at anyone who passed by were tired and worn. Her blond hair hung limp and crinkled, mussed by her nap. In the light her hair looked even paler. Growling, Audrey looked down at the sink to discover someone had brought her toiletry bag in. Opening it without a thought, she grabbed her hair brush and a scrunchie in an effort to neaten up. She sighed at her reflection. Being tall could have it's advantages, if you were shaped like a model. At five feet and ten inches, Audrey looked more like a stick. _Whatever. Screw you Victoria's Secret._

Audrey pounded down the stairs and to the door, determined to dash as quickly as she could to and from the car. When she tripped on something on the floor, she looked down. Her second suitcase was siting there, along with her box of books, ipod, and music.

_Well I'll be..._She glanced into the kitchen to see her father reading a newspaper, the last he had bought from New York. She walked into the kitchen, not really intending to say a word of thanks, but convinced she had to say _something._

"Um..."

"The vans should be here by Thursday at the latest," Mark said, ignoring what Audrey was about to say. "They'll have the furniture for this place. I expect you to help them move everything in. Oh, and tell them that some of the lights need fixing." Seeing Audrey staring at him blankly, he continued, "What? I called you three times for food, but you were asleep or something." With that, he stood up, dumped his plate in the sink, and went upstairs.

Whirling around to face the back door, Audrey stormed towards it, stopping just in front. Her breath made little foggy circles on it as she stared at the rain drops dripping down.

_Friggin' lazy, oblivious, blind, conceited..._There was a dish washer right next to the sink, but he had dumped everything into the sink! Was she supposed to clean it up?! And she was going to _thank him?_ Oh, no. No, no, no. She leaned her head against the cool glass and listened to the rain fall. It was funny, how much louder it sounded now that she was out of New York City. Then her stomach rumbled, reminding her that she hadn't eaten since six that morning.

"Little bugger," she sighed. "And there's probably nothing around to eat, either." She yanked open the fridge anyway, if only to have her fears confirmed and know she would starve that night. Instead, she found a sub wrapped and waiting with a bottle of water next to it. Audrey frowned. They hadn't stopped to grab groceries anywhere. Mark must have ordered them when the got here. She shrugged.

While she chewed away, Audrey reviewed a list tacked to the wall of the house. It read off numbers and names that were as foreign to her as anther language.

"Black...Uley...Call...Call? What kind of last name is that?...Young...more people...Doctor...911, good to know they have that here," Audrey read out loud. She sighed. "Well, Aud, you officially have numbers of a bunch of random people that you don't know, and no social life. Congratulations. You suck." _Well, I'm not in NYC anymore._ Throwing away the wrapping, Audrey grabbed the water bottle and went back to observe her new holdings.

The front room was entirely bare of everything, even a wall phone. It seemed the only phone was in the kitchen. _Guess they had their priorities right, who ever "they" were. Phone, food, door, all in the kitchen._ The walls would definitely need some pictures, and possibly a new layer of paint. The other lights looked burnt out, and the floors were dusty. _And I'll probably have to take care off all of this_ Audrey silently fumed to herself. Well, at least it was _her_ house, and that filled her with pride.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket, a text message lighting up the screen.

_Hey! Have u arrived yet??? How is it?? Have fun ur new skool. I bet you'll be gr8!!! xoxo, Jen._

Audrey sighed at the text speak and rolled her eyes before typing back:

_Yeah, we got here. It's tiny. I'm kicking him out as soon as I can. And school is school. It's gonna suck. At least I don't have to go for another week. Miss you too._

Flipping the phone shut, Audrey walked back up to her room. Rummaging around in her suitcase, she grabbed a pair of sweats and an old T-shirt before heading for the bathroom. Grabbing her shampoo, she turned the water on as hot as it would go and tried to forget everything but the heat and the smell of kiwis in her shampoo.

* * *

The next morning was quiet, the rain gone for a moment. The sun peeked through the lacey curtains as Audrey groaned and rolled away from them.

_Friggin' time zone different, messing with my head..._

Sitting up, she stared around her, remembering the arrival of the previous day. Mostly though, she remembered the rain. Audrey glared out the window at the trees.

"Why couldn't I have somewhere nice, like California?" she wailed at the ceiling. Still half asleep, she stumbled down the stairs. A noted greeted her on the kitchen table.

_Gone out to meet the firm. Get food later at the grocery store. Directions below. Watch for moving van._

That was it. No "love you," no signs of care for her general well being, not even a "Dad" at the end. Audrey snorted. She hopped the directions were good, because otherwise they would not be eating for a while. She opened the fridge to look for the left over muffins from the car ride. Grabbing the last one, Audrey filled a glass with water and headed back upstairs. Just as she set the water and muffin down on the table, her phone rang.

"Hey, Jen," Audrey greeted her friend with fake enthusiasm.

"Audrey! Hey! Where's my happy greeting?" Jen scolded, entirely too hyper for Audrey's tastes.

"Jen, do you even have _any_ idea what _time _it is?" Audrey put her hand to her forehead, amazed that Jen had forgotten the time zone difference.

"Um, 10:30?"

"Try 7:30 for me."

"Oops."

"Yeah. So, aside from your horrible blunder once again-"

"Hey!"

"-what's up? Why are you calling so early?"

"Well....I was bored, and missing you, and thought you might be sad."

"Sad? Why would I be sad?" Audrey frowned into the phone. She stopped halfway through finding clothes, holding the shirt she had grabbed in her hand. Looking at it, she saw it was one of the old ones she and her mother had tie-dyed together. The colors weren't too faded yet. Audrey threw it on the bed and started looking for a pair of pants.

"Aud, it's your mum's old place. I know how much she meant to you, and-"

"Look, Jen," Audrey said, her tone becoming slightly icy. "I don't want to talk about it right now."

"But-"

"The movers are coming in a bit with our stuff. I need to get ready."

"Oh. Okay. Well, keep me posted and let me know if there are any cute boys out there. It's not California but you're kinda close!" Easily distracted from her train of thought, Jen blurted out her well wishes for her friend before hanging up. Audrey gave a little laugh before grabbing a new pair of sweats and heading for the bathroom.

Audrey stared into the mirror. Well, she looked healthier than the last time she had looked into the mirror. She decided another hot shower was in order. _Just what the doctor ordered._ She giggled to herself. For a while after the funeral her father had tried to get several shrinks to write that his daughter was mentally ill, and therefore he should handle all of her inheritance until he deemed her more fit for the duty. Unfortunately for him, the psychiatrists had all informed him that while his daughter wasn't exactly the best company, she was perfectly sound of mind – well, probably – and that she was after all a teenager who had lost her mother.

Toweling off her hair in her room, Audrey opened up the window. A part of the roof extended out below it, offering a mini balcony to anyone who dared to climb out. Grabbing her muffin, Audrey pulled herself through. Since the shingles were still wet, she reached back in to grab the towel on the floor. Crawling up to a higher point, she spread the towel out and sat down on it, facing the woods. From there she could see the backyard of the house next door, and the one farther down. Nothing was happening next door, but the next one had several teenage boys playing around. Watching them, Audrey figured they must be on the reserve because of their heritage. All of them had russet skin and black hair, and all were fairly tall. At least, they _looked_ tall. She'd have to get a closer look to really see and find out.

_Woah, woah, woah girl,_ Audrey mentally scolded herself. _Get involved? With a boy? Here?! Don't be stupid. _A second part of her argued that she could at least say "hi" to them. Just because she said "hi" to a boy didn't mean she was going to kiss him. Audrey winced at the thought. Her past romantic ventures – if they could even be called "romantic" - had been major failures. All the boys had wanted more than she was willing to give, and sooner than she was willing to give it.

_Well...maybe if I see them in school I'll say something._ Glancing over at them again, she thought she saw the tallest one look directly at her. Flushing and slightly mortified that someone had seen her, Audrey decided that it was time to go inside and see what she could find on the internet. Maybe some of her photos had sold at that gallery and Em would have a nice little pay check for her. Then she could get her car fixed up. Looking over the top of the roof one last time, she saw her little yellow bug was still in the front.

_Good. Looks like he took a taxi or something._ Audre had to smirk. For some reason most guys didn't seem to like being caught in her little bug.

The inside of the house offered warmth and protection as the rain started to fall again, along with warm socks and her laptop. Two messages where in her e-mail. One from Jen, which she saved for later, as they could be rather long and tedious. The other was indeed from an "Em Reynolds" of "Sparky Art." The subject: New Paycheck! Cha-ching. Gas money. Well, more like food money. Which she should probably get. Audrey grabbed her hoodie and headed for the front door.

Just as she grabbed her keys off the kitchen table the doorbell rang.

"Are you serious?" she asked incredulously. "_Now_ someone comes to call?"

Opening the door she was greeted by the sight of two moving trucks and a team of men. The one who had rung the doorbell politely tipped his hat to her.

"'Scuse me Miss, is this the Grey residence?"

"Uh, yeah. This our new stuff?"

"Yup. Just sign right here and tell us where to put everything. We'll do the moving."

Audrey hastily signed her name. The man took it back and glanced at her signature.

"Delancey?"

"That's my mom's last name."

"Oh, sorry kid. Step-dad?"

"No, I just don't really believe he's my real dad." Hoping to avoid any more awkward questions, Audrey waved at the vans. "You guys want to get started? It looks like it's going to rain soon." Glancing at the sky, the man hurried back to the crew and started waving people into positions. It looked like groceries would have to wait.

* * *

**So...hope it wasn't too horrible. I tried to keep the side of me that keeps yelling at me for writing Twilight fanfiction shushed.**

**Tell me what you think? Who likes Audrey?**

**Thank you p3rfume for reviewing, and thank you p3rfume, BabyBadChick, and blew by wind12 for adding this story to your favorites/alerts! (Hope you don't me saying thanks here.)  
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	3. Necessary Necessities

**Chapter Two, up for your viewing pleasure! ****I hope you guys like this next chapter. Not much going on, but there will be more happening in the next. Tell me, do you guys think the chapters are too short, too long, just the right length? I'm curious to know so that I can improve them if possible.**

**Thank you for the comments on the last chapters! They make me dance.**

**Disclaimer: Anyone you recognize from the series = not mine. Only Audrey, her family, and Jen belong to me thus far.**

**Enjoy!  
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Ch 2 – Necessary Necessities

Rain greeted Audrey the next day when she rolled over and quite literally out of bed, ending up on the floor with a rather undignified thud. Luckily no one was around to witness, or hear, her glorious wake up call. Staring at the ceiling, she debated whether or not it would really be that beneficial to move. After all, the day hadn't started well, her blankets and a pillow were wrapped around her, and she was warm. _And there's such pretty patterns on the ceiling..._

Then her stomach rumbled at her, reminding her that while her mind may have adjusted more to the new time zone, her body was still in New York. The clock showed the time: 9:08. Meaning she would be eating lunch. Audrey sighed and rolled around, untangling herself from her unintentional cocoon. At least all the new furniture was in, and her belongings put away where they, well, belonged. Audrey's stomach rumbled again, reminding her that there was also no food left in the house. Time for a shopping trip.

_And maybe she'd see those boys again when she drove past..._

Audrey shook her head away from that train of thought. Sure, they had been attractive in a physical way. _From the roof top._ Pulling on jeans and a long sleeved shirt, Audrey ran down the stairs. Scribbling a hasty note – for who, the dust bunnies? – that she was going out to do errands, Audrey grabbed her raincoat and keys and headed out the door.

It was a short drive – only slightly impeded by a moody GPS – to the local supermarket, if Audrey was willing to call it that. It wasn't a very big building. Grabbing a kart she read off her list again.

Apples, oranges, kiwis, veggies – assorted, meat – no beef, fish, tofu, vitamin C, supplements, vitamin C again.......she was definitely going to need help getting some vitamin D, too, if her first two days were any indication. Maybe she'd grab some beans and make tacos. Or just eat them as is to see if it annoyed her dad. The last item on her list was dessert. The essential for all angsty teenagers, especially if they felt like playing out the stereotype as much as possible.

Walking down the frozen food isle, Audrey spotted a few teenage boys who looked similar to the ones she had seen yesterday on the roof. They had the same reddish skin, black hair, and height. Self conscious and hyper aware all of a sudden that this was a small town, Audrey fiddled with the sleeve of her raincoat that she had hung on the cart. Trying not to attract attention, she focused entirely on her task, but couldn't completely ignore the conversation floating over.

"Quil, just grab ten of the bags. Emily's waiting for us."

"No way, I gotta have at least five just for me."

"You're such a pig."

"Shut up Colin! Just because your mom can cook doesn't mean you can look down on me! Frozen foods are the only thing that pull me through to the next time I get Emily's cooking!"

"Yeah, that and Claire," another voice snickered. A slap was heard and muffled protests. Audrey realized that she had unintentionally flinched when she heard the slap. _Focus, you're just getting yourself some food and then leaving. Just breathe._

"Jared, you can't talk! You have Kim!"

"And now apparently Embry found someone."

"Colin, that's old news. He's had a girlfriend for over a year. Whats-her-face." Someone snorted.

"Lisa, Quil. And he might be breaking up with her. Says someone else might be more interesting."

"No kidding? What'd he do? Im-" A smack cut off the end of the sentence.

"Keep your mouth shut, idiot!"

"Hell, Paul, that hurt!"

"Good."

As more quibbling continued behind her back, Audrey decided to grab a simple apple pie and leave before her eavesdropping got any weirder.

Up at the register, a woman was just finishing her purchase when Audrey rolled her cart up. As she waited for her turn, she heard a familiar noise come up behind her.

"Emily! We got what you asked us for!" Was that the voice belonging to the person named Jared, or was that the other one? The woman in front turned around. Audrey was glad she didn't easily admit to surprise around strangers, or she certainly would have gasped out loud.

The first half of the woman's face that Audrey saw was absolutely gorgeous. It had to run in the blood around here or something. The second have made her squirm. It reminded her of when someone gets into a horrible car crash, and can't get plastic surgery to fix their face. The horrid scars, running down half the woman's face, made Audrey want to hurl.

The half of her face that could frowned at the boys approaching the register.

"Really, now, I sent you for one thing half an hour ago, and you only just now come back to me? Really," she mock scolded.

"Quil's fault!" the youngest looking one called out. The heaviest looking one – probably the one named Quil – elbowed him.

"But Emily, I just _had_ to have some for myself. So I grabbed extra." Emily raised an eyebrow at him.

"Well," she said. "You can just wait in line and pay for that yourself. Hand over the ones that are mine." With much whining and protest, Quil handed over ten of the frozen bags.

"But there's a person standing there," he objected.

"Yes, there's a nice girl standing behind me waiting to buy her groceries. Now, stop holding up the line and wait your turn, Quil Atera!" Emily commanded. Audrey wished at that moment that she had picked the other line, even if it would have meant that she would have had to wait forever behind an old couple. Completely mortified at the sudden looks she was getting as the guys behind her realized they hadn't seen her before, Audrey started loading up her items a fast as she could.

_Please just go away. Please just let me get out of here. Don't talk to me, don't talk to me, don't talk to-_

"You're new." _Crap._ Audrey looked back to see the youngest looking one staring at her. "You move in to that old place down the block? Mutely, with her lips pressed together so hard they were probably white, Audrey nodded.

"Cool," the kid chirped again. "I live next door to you. My name's Colin." Audrey just nodded again.

"Hey, were you sitting on the roof of that house yesterday? Around the morning?" This time a different voice asked her. Audrey just kept her eyes on her wallet as she responded.

"Does it really matter to you?" she asked tersely, pulling out her credit card.

"Well...yeah, kind of," the same one responded. She was pretty sure that one was Jared. "Y'see, me and my friends were playing basketball in the back yesterday, and one of them said he saw some chick sitting on the roof top. What's your name?" Audrey decided she had had just about enough of the weird interrogation-questions.

"Look," she quipped, pulling on her raincoat, "I don't know you, I'm completely new here, and the first thing you ask me is if I was _sitting on my__ roof yesterday? _Good first choice of question. So if you don't mind, would just _leave me alone?_" Audrey glared at him as she loaded the last of her bags into her kart. "Bye bye."

The woman Emily was standing at the door, waiting for the boys. She smiled sympathetically at Audrey as she passed. Placing a gentle hand that smelled faintly like spice on Audrey's shoulder, she apologized for Jared's questions.

"They do mean well," she said, looking at them as Quil tried to gather enough money to buy his food. "They're just...a little rusty at dealing with people sometimes. Try not to let them bother you too much. They're a good bunch of boys."

"S'okay," Audrey mumbled, staring at the ground. She could hear the boys coming up again.

"Listen," Emily said, speaking a little louder as the boys got closer, "why don't you and your family come over to my place on Friday for a little party? We'll introduce you around to people here. I'm Emily, by the way." Audrey thanked her for the kind invitation.

"I don't know if we'll come, though. My family's just my dad and me now, and he's working a lot."

"Woo! Party! That means more food!" Quil exclaimed, hoisting his grocery bags up in the air in victory.

"Quil," Emily laughed, lightly slapping his arm. "Don't you get enough food already?"

"Never," Quil said solemnly. "Never, never, never."

"Thank you for the inviation, really, but I don't know," Audrey said, determined to get out as fast as she could. Emily fished around her purse for a scrap of paper and a pen.

"Here," she said, handing Audrey a piece with two names, a number, and an address written down. "Call me later, and tell me when you can come over." She gave Audrey another warm smile. Audrey thought she was rather pretty, even with scars disfiguring half of her face. Something about her reminded her of her mother. Audrey nodded and wheeled the cart back out into the rain. Loading up her tiny car as quickly as she could, she sat inside for a minute, watching as the boys piled all the groceries – and there were so many! – into Emily's car.

With a sigh Audrey turned on the heat and slowly backed out and drove home in the rain. _Rain, rain, go away..._

Maybe it would be nice to go to a party.

* * *

"Well, if you want to go then you have my permission. Just don't do anything stupid. Their parents will be there, correct?" Mark stated over the phone. Everything was so organized. Audrey rolled her eyes again. _Prick._ If he had any idea of the kinds of parties she had gone to before...

"It's not a high school party. It's a welcoming party. And Emily is an adult. It's at her house, Friday," Audrey said. Grabbing a carton of milk she shoved it into the now slightly fuller refrigerator. A pen tapped in the back ground. "Hello?"

"Yes. Well. Go ahead and tell them I will not be coming. I have much to do here and no time to be socializing outside of the firm." _Jerk._

"Alright." * Click. * _Well, that answers that question. Guess I'll be going._ Audrey dug out the scrap of paper with two names on it. _Sam Uley and Emily Young. _Audrey looked up at the numbers still hanging on the walls. _Young._ Scratch one name.

_Time to pick out clothes. Nothing else to do._ While an instant meal heated in the oven, Audrey opened up her new closet and poked around. Dress? Out of the question. Dresses usually required nice shoes and those would get stuck in the perpetual mud around here. Skirts? Same reasoning. Blouse? Eh, maybe. Those could be worn with jeans. Riffling through the shirts, Audrey found one of her mother's. Deep blue and sleeveless, the tunic hung to about mid-thigh. It was a nice change of color. Audrey laid it on the bed and pulled out a pair of faded skinny jeans. Add a pair of chucks and she was set. Well. That had killed all of...an hour?

Audrey muttered to herself as she raced back to the kitchen. Yup. The food was done and cold. Perfect. Might as well call Emily and tell her that she would be the only one coming. Maybe that would kill even more time. Hesitantly Audrey dialed the number.

"Hello?" a man answered the phone. Audrey gulped.

"H-hi. This is Audrey. Emily told me to call her about coming over on Friday?" Why couldn't it have been Emily who picked up???

"Oh, the girl from the store! She mentioned you. One minute, I'll get her." Audrey could hear him call "Emily!" as the phone was set down. She fidgeted until Emily picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Emily. It's Audrey."

"It's nice to hear from you! Will you be able to come over this Friday? Or would some other time work better?" In the background were many voices. Audrey hoped that not _too_ many people would be invited.

"I can come. My dad won't though. He's busy," Audrey replied, skipping her dad's reasons for his absence.

"That's okay, it will probably run a little late, anyway. Tell him he can just drop by later if he wants," Emily said. Audrey nodded to herself. No need to tell him, he wouldn't show up anyway.

"Thanks. What time should I come over?"

"Let's say around six? That will give people enough time to get over here. We'll see you then!" Audrey said good bye and hung up.

"Well, you now have one number and one social event. Great," she muttered to herself. She grabbed her food out of the microwave and plopped down on the sofa in front of the TV. While she absently flipped through the channels, her phone rang. _Jen._

"Hey, what's up?" Audrey cradled the phone between her ear and shoulder.

"I have missed you so much!" Jen squealed. "What are you doing right now? Do you know how long I've had to wait to call you?! I really am not happy about this time zone thing." Audrey could just see Jen pouting on the other side, and laughed.

"I'm watching some horrible kiddie program. There's literally nothing on. And it's only, what, nine o'clock there?"

"Eight," Jen stated, mater-of-fact.

"Oh, no, whatever shall you do?" Audrey asked sarcastically. They bantered back and forth for a while, comparing the weather (rainy in Washington, nice enough in New York), shopping (groceries versus clothes), and boys.

"So, you found any good looking ones yet?" Jen hinted. Audrey just laughed again.

"Jen! You're horrible! And I'm going to some welcome party on Friday," Audrey replied. "I can't really say if the boys will be good looking or not. The ones I saw today were alright, but then again everyone probably already has a girlfriend." Audrey sighed. While she didn't think she could handle having a _boyfriend_ right now, it would definitely be nice to have someone to hang out with.

"Aw, cheer up, you'll find someone!" Jen comforted her.

"Thanks, Jen," Audrey said dryly. "You and your boy have been going out for, what, ten years now?"

"Two, Miss Smarty-Pants," Jen sassed her back. "Seriously though, we need to find you someone that fits you." Audrey rolled her eyes. If Jen's mind had sound effects, then right now they'd be the sound of typing keys as she wrestled with the "problem." Audrey heard a car pull up and a door slam.

"Hey, my dad's back, so I gotta go." Audrey leaned forward and quickly turned off the TV, heading for the kitchen to dump her things.

"That sucks. Put a lemon in his coffee or something. Talk to you soon love you bye!" Jen blurted out the last bit as Audrey snapped her phone shut. Her dad walked in the door and saw her slip it into her pocket.

"Wasting time again?"

"I was just talking to Jen, Dad," Audrey sighed.

"You should be spending less time involved in trivial things like that and focus on your new school. It's not as up to par as I would like it, but you are not allowed to slack off." Audrey frowned and focused on not stabbing the dishwasher with her fork as she loaded it. "What food did you buy?"

"There's food in the fridge and freezer, pick what you want and make it yourself. There's no steaks or anything," Audrey said as Mark opened the fridge door. Ignoring his frown at the lack of red meats, she walked out and towards the stairs.

"This party you're going to on Friday," Mark said just as Audrey put her foot on the first step. "It's going to be supervised, correct?" More eye rolling.

"Yes. Emily invited us. I'm pretty sure she's around thirty. Not exactly wild party material. And it's just some neighbors coming to say hi," Audrey called back towards the kitchen as cupboard doors opened and closed. "She said it's going to run a little late, so you can still come if you want." A snort was heard from the kitchen.

"You will just have to tell her that I will be at a very important dinner date, and will not be attending."

"Wow, got the dates rolling in already? Classy," Audrey snapped. Good grief, they hand only just got there!

"This is strictly business with the president of the company and a few other associates," Mark said calmly, ignoring the implied subtext.

"Yeah, sure it is. Just like in New York!" Before her father could retort or call her on her impudence, Audrey ran up to her room and locked the door. Throwing open the window, she stuck her hand out. No rain was falling at the moment, so she grabbed her rain coat and clambered out once again, this time just sitting next to the window. She sat and watched as the moon rose and stars winked into the night sky. Leaning back against the house, she marveled at how many stars she could see.

As it started raining again, Audrey climbed back inside. All was quiet. Creeping into the hallway, Audrey made her way to the bathroom. Maybe a nice hot shower would help calm her nerves about the party. She sighed. One and a half more days to go. Keep breathing.

* * *

**So, what did you guys think? Enjoy the little peak of the wolf boys and Emily?**

**Favorite vs least favorite parts? Grammatical/spelling mistakes?  
**

**Thanks to for the reviews and alerts!**

**paramoreflames: I updated again! I try and update my stories as often as possible. This one is really easy to write, for some reason, so hopefully I shouldn't take too long on them.  
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**BabyBadChick: Thanks! I'm glad you think it's different. I will keep writing until the story is done!**

**Thank you Ninja. HarryPotter .4life for adding this to your alerts! Hope you enjoy it! **

**~saya  
**


	4. Adolescent Happenings

**Chapter three! Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: Anyone you recognize from the books = not mine, S. Meyer can keep them. Everyone else not from the books = mine, and I like them.**

* * *

As usual, Friday dawned bright and rainy. Now used to the time zone, Audrey still woke up at 6 a.m., jittery and nervous about the "big party" that she would be attending in about twelve hours. Deciding that simply sitting in her bed was not going to help calm her nerves, she grabbed her raincoat and threw open the window. The rain wasn't coming down too hard – yet – so she clambered out in her PJs onto the roof. Blowing on her hands to warm them, Audrey focused her thoughts on meeting new people.

Oh. Dear.

_flashback_

Driving around to orient herself, Audrey had passed groups of boys she had thought were the ones she had met in the grocery store. They all had similarly cropped hair, height, and habit of running around in very little clothing. Well, okay, maybe she wasn't being very fair about the clothing thing. Some of her friends in the city had definitely been more…risqué than the guys out on the reserve were being.

Leaving a small outdoor supplies store named _Newtons_, Audrey had pulled back onto the road headed for the reservation. Moments after she had crossed the "border" Audrey had seen three boys running along the side of the road. She recognized the smallest one as Colin, the boy who lived two houses down. The other two were strangers. One of them – the tallest – had briefly looked up at her. There was a question on his face. Realizing that her driving had slowed almost ten miles, Audrey focused on the road again and head for home.

The view in her rear-view mirror showed the two other boys laughing at the tallest one as he stared at the ground.

/flashback

Groaning to herself, Audrey buried her head in her knees and tried to think happy thoughts…happy thoughts…

Well, at least she'd be able to tell Jen if there were any "hot guys" in town by the end of the day. And she had already done her catch-up homework for her new school. It was rather easy, actually. Even the AP class work. Audrey sighed to herself. _I'm going to need either a job, or some really weird friends to kill some time out here._ Maybe in a few days she'd go for a run around the reserve.

Audrey jerked her head up with a start. The rain was coming down a little harder now, and she could see the edge of the roof. Meaning that the sun was out and she had fallen asleep. Out on the roof. In the rain. Ew?

Pajama pants now thoroughly soaked at the edges and on the bottom, Audrey carefully scooted herself into her room. Grabbing the necessary supplies, she made a dash for the bathroom and cranked the hot water. As steam filled the room Audrey looked at herself in the mirror again. Her hair was limp around her face, her eyes were slightly bloodshot, and her skin was paler than pale.

Maybe the whole "social event" thing _was_ getting to her. Just a little bit.

Audrey frowned at herself and stepped into the shower, letting the hotter-than-usual water relax her tired muscles. Putting some of her favorite shampoo – lavender scented – in her hand, she focused her mind on the water, the smell of flowers, and her head as she massaged the shampoo into her hair. Rinsing it out, Audrey watched some of the suds flow down her outstretched arm and down the drain. Taking extra care with herself, Audrey didn't step out until the hot water was completely gone. By then her stomach was growling at her. Her reflection when she had dressed in sweats and a T-shirt was much improved. Her hair looked healthy again, her eyes were more calm and bright, and her cheeks had a little bit of color to them.

Downstairs held a surprise. Two surprises, actually.

First, there was a smell of cooked food coming from the kitchen.

Second, in the kitchen was her father. While that in and of itself might not have been so surprising, the company he was keeping certainly was. A blond woman dressed in a business suit sat across from him sipping coffee, a folder full of documents open in front of her. Mark sat there with a plate of breakfast foods and a cup of coffee, staring at the folder. They both looked up when Audrey came in. The woman jerked back a little, as if she had been so engrossed in the papers that she hadn't heard the shower, or Audrey pounding down the stairs. Audrey just raised her eyebrows at her.

"This is my daughter, Audrey," Mark said by way of introduction, waving his hand at her without looking up. "Audrey, meet Ms. Maggie Steeler, another lawyer in town."

"Nice to meet you," Ms. Steeler said, holding out her hand. Audrey couldn't help but notice the woman's single status, her youth, and the cross that dangled just low enough to hint at her cleavage. Audrey ignored the hand and opened the fridge, grabbing things to make a smoothie. When it became painfully obvious that Audrey was going to ignore her, Ms. Steeler lowered her hand awkwardly and turned back to Audrey's father. As legal terms, dates, and names flew back and forth, Audrey grabbed the blender out from a cabinet and dumped her ingredients in. Placing the top on, she turned on the blender.

"Do you _mind?!_" Mark yelled, covering his ears. Audrey waited for her smoothie to be completely blended before turning off the blender. She turned to the table, where both occupants had their ears covered. Mark glowered at her.

Giving her nicest, blandest smile, Audrey just said, "Not at all. Would you like me to go louder?" Before either adult could berate her for her behavior, Audrey walked out of the kitchen and back to her room.

Audrey spent the rest of the day holed up in her room, surfing the internet and catching up with goings-on's in the world. Checking her e-mail, Audrey saw she had another message from Sparky Art, the company her mom's friend had started online. Audrey periodically took pictures for Emma Reynolds, who in turn paid her a royalty every time she sold a print. The message was a request for new material.

_Hey girl! So I bet by now you're settled in and bored. How about taking me some pictures of the land around there? Snap whatever you feel like taking and I'll pick 'em out! Oh, and I'm sending Merlin over to you tomorrow, so your kitty should be there soon! How are you? –Love, Em_

Audrey smiled at Emma's perky chat-like message.

_Sure, I need something to do, and the way the Bug is acting up, I'm going to need some cash. Hope you don't mind a lot of rainy pics. Thanks for keeping Merlin in the mean time. Has he broken anything yet? –Thanks, A._

Audrey checked the time: 4:30. Just enough time to have a quick panic attack, clean herself up, and then head over to Emily's for some social interaction. Perfect. Now, to clear out the pesky over-reactive thoughts. One: no one was going to eat her. It's not like they were going to turn into _lions_ or anything. Two: the house was not going to catch on fire just because she was leaving for who-knows-how-long. Three: Her cat would be there the next day, so hopefully Audrey wouldn't go insane. Well. Maybe.

By the time Audrey had sufficiently calmed herself down, put on her red shirt and skinny jeans, and grabbed her raincoat, it was five fourty-five. Time to go.

In her car Audrey turned on the radio to hear Fall Out Boy's song _I Don't Care_ playing.

_I don't care what you think as long as it's about me_

_The best of us can find happiness in misery…_

Yeah, she'd be needing some of that.

When Audrey pulled up to Emily's house, she didn't see any cars. Well, maybe no one else was there yet. She carefully got out and walked to the front door. Audrey could faintly hear voices coming from inside and around the house. She hoped not too many people were invited. Taking a breath, she knocked on the door.

"Audrey! Hello! Come in, come in!" Emily welcomed her. Audrey gave a small smile and stepped hesitantly into the house. The smell of food was everywhere. "Are you hungry?"

"Oh, um…maybe?" Audrey couldn't decide if eating would be a good idea or if her stomach would just reject everything.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Emily apologized. "I'm just so used to the boys coming in and heading straight for the food." She laughed. "Well, they're all in the kitchen, or at least some of them. The rest of them should show up in a bit." Emily lead the way towards the delicious smells. Inside the kitchen stood three boys, all munching on plates of food.

"Can't you all put that down for a minute to say hello to our guest?" Emily chastised them. One of them – Quil, Audrey realized – rolled his eyes and kept eating. The other two stopped for a minute.

"The one still pigging out is Quil," Emily said. "The one next to him is Paul, and the last one is Jared. They're older than Quil, and much more mature." Emily shot Quil a look. Audrey just nodded at the last two as they were introduced. Paul and Jared did look a little bit older than Quil, but not by too much.

"Well, just make yourself at home. There's plenty to eat and then some." Audrey just grabbed herself a soda before wandering out to the back. Popping the lid open, she watched it fizz over.

_What am I doing here?_ Mingling. Meeting people. Right. She was going to have to work on the whole "social interaction" bit.

A minute later another car drove up. Audrey heard greetings called through the house just before another girl popped her head out the back door. Audrey jumped.

"Hi!" she grinned. "I'm Claire. You must be Audrey! I heard Quil gave you a bit of a hard time the other day. Sorry about that." Audrey nodded at her.

"It's okay," she said. "I think it was that other guy, actually."

"Who, Jared?" Audrey nodded. Yeah, the big one that was too nosey for his own good. "Hmm, yeah, Kim's been trying to work on that whole 'this is how you talk to people' thing. Hasn't always gone so great." The two girls stood outside under the awning for a while, chatting with each other. Although it was really more of Claire talking and asking questions, and Audrey nodding or giving short replies.

"So, where do you go to school?" Audrey asked. If she knew even one person before school started, it might help.

"I go to the school here on the rez," Claire answered. "It's not that great, but it's probably better than the public school in Forks. Hey, there's Kim!" Claire waved to a young woman inside the house. As Audrey met Kim, then Rachel, Paul's girlfriend, she thought she'd go mad from only talking to girls. Sure, they were great, but they also carried a lot of drama. Not to mention they were really chatty. At least the rain had stopped for a bit.

"Hey girls!" Colin popped his head out. "May I join this lovely little group?" They all laughed at him.

"Watch it, Colin," Quil warned. "Get too close and Paul will eat you." He went over to Claire and put his arm around her. As Jared and Paul went to stand next to their girls, Audrey felt a little left out.

"Ah, well," Colin sighed dramatically. "I guess I'll just have to stand over here with Audrey, then." She laughed. Colin proved himself to be an outrageous flirt without being serious as more people started to arrive. Audrey learned their names as they came and went, but couldn't really remember them. She stood there and listened to Colin tell stories of various hijinks, happy to be in a world that wasn't her own.

The door opened again and Audrey felt like the person was watching her. Darting a look to her right, she saw it was the tall(er) boy who had been running along the road the other day. Colin broke off his story and gave a small cough. The boy looked over at them. Audrey muttered a "hello" before looking away.

"Audrey, I believe you have yet to meet Embry," he said, gesturing towards the lanky youth standing awkwardly by the door. "Embry, Audrey."

"Hi," Embry smiled.

"You might want to move away from the door. People tend to go in and out of those things," Colin teased him. Embry blushed slightly and shuffled so that the three of them formed a little triangle. Shooting a glance at the taller boy, Colin said, "You know what? I'm going to get another soda. Either of you want something?" Embry shook his head. "Audrey?"

"I'll have a Coke," she said, glancing at Embry. For all that he was probably one of the tallest ones there, he wasn't built very much. He was lean and skinny, in cut-off shorts and a plain grey T-shirt.

They stood there for a minute, awkwardly not saying anything. Audrey wondered if he was the one Jared had been talking about when he had asked her if she had been sitting on her roof. She opened her mouth to ask, but Embry cut her off.

"I, uh, heard Jared gave you a bit of a hard time the other day. Sorry 'bout that," he said. Embry scratched the back of his head as he cautiously looked at Audrey. It startled her that he had started talking about what she was going to ask him, and the surprise was written on her face. Embry fidgeted for a moment while Audrey regained her composure.

"Oh, no," she said, waving her hand. "It's okay. I just didn't know that sitting on roof tops was cause for gossip around here." She gave him a small smile, hoping that her automatic use of sarcasm wasn't as off-putting as it must have sounded. Luckily Embry just gave her a relieved smile.

"Around here?" he joked. "Sneezing could be a cause for gossip. Not too much goes on."

"Hey, guys!" Quil yelled. "It's starting to rain again!"

"Aw, shove it Quil, a little water won't hurt you!" Paul snapped back. The two started bickering again as Embry and Audrey watched. She laughed.

"Are they always like that?" she asked, still giggling. Embry gave another wide smile.

"Those two? Like cats in a sack. But they're not really so bad," he replied. "Want to go in?"

"Um, okay," Audrey said quietly. Embry moved to open the door, motioning for her to go first. Appreciating the small gesture, Audrey ducked her head to hide her smile and walked in. Colin motioned to her from the couch in the other room.

"Hey! Audrey! I got your coke here!" he beckoned. Audrey shot him a look.

"So why didn't you bring it back out there?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

"But it's so _comfy_ in here and you two were hitting off _so_ well," Colin drawled. Audrey rolled her eyes. She felt Embry come up to stand next to her behind the couch.

"Yeah, great," she muttered.

"Aw, don't be mad," Colin pleaded with puppy dog eyes. "The game's on now. Come sit." He patted the seat next to him. Audrey eyed the spot. If she sat there, then someone would sit on her other side, too, effectively sandwiching her into the couch.

"Um, no thanks," she hedged. "I'll just stand." Colin pouted, but shrugged and went back to the game. A few others came in as the rain came down. Claire and Quil sat down on the couch together, then Rachel and Paul wedged themselves in, too. Audrey was glad she hadn't sat down. Close physical contact wasn't exactly her forte.

Just then an add came up for the law firm where her father was now working. The woman her dad had been eating breakfast with showed up, perky and sharing all the great wonders they could do for you. Audrey felt a little nauseous.

"Hey," Embry said next to her. When she didn't respond immediately he tapped her shoulder. Audrey's hands gripped the couch as she turned to look at him. Her blue eyes met his brown ones and she felt her fingers relax their death grip on the couch a little. No one else had noticed her behavior. "You want to get something from the kitchen? Since it's the commercials and all." He motioned with his hand towards the kitchen before brushing his bangs out of the way. Audrey just nodded mutely.

In the kitchen Embry grabbed out plates for the two of them, ignoring Audrey's state of oblivion towards the rest of the world. Embry filled a plate for himself and put a piece of apple pie on the other for Audrey. She leaned herself against the counter across from him. Tiredly she ran a hand across her face, brushing back her blond hair.

"Here," Embry said, holding out the plate for her.

"Thanks." Embry stayed on the other side of the kitchen for a moment before asking.

"You mind if I stand over there?" Audrey looked up at him. _Of course. It would be natural that he'd want to stand over here…it's normal human interaction. Get a grip on yourself._

"Yeah, sure," she shrugged. Embry leaned comfortably next to her, without getting too close. Audrey stared at her plate for a minute. "Why'd you give me just pie?" Embry laughed. Audrey had to smile a little.

"It's not that weird a question," she muttered. Embry snickered.

"Well," he said thoughtfully. "It's just that, you seemed in a bit of a shock. And whenever I get depressed or upset, my mom always loads me up with sugar." Audrey tensed a little bit.

"So…emotional therapy via diabetes," she said. Embry nodded.

"Something like that." They ate in comfortable silence for a little while. Audrey ate her pie carefully, while Embry practically inhaled his plate of food. They could hear the group in the living room cheering as one team or anther scored.

"Do you guys do this often?" Audrey finally asked.

"Get together? Yeah, we do," Embry replied. He held his hand out for her plate before putting them in the sink. "Emily's a great cook, and she's always happy to see us. Except for maybe when some of them get too rowdy. She's like a second mom to most of us." Audrey thought about it for a moment.

"So what're your parents like?" Embry asked. Audrey's head snapped up again. Embry had stayed on the other side of the room. She bit her lip before replying.

"My dad works for that company that showed up," she answered, jerking her thumb towards the TV. "He's a…lawyer."

"Yeah, my mom told me about that," Embry nodded. She raised an eyebrow at him. "She works over at the diner. Hears everything, and decides that I'm the best person to tell it to." He laughed.

"So what about your mom?" Audrey knew that Embry didn't mean any harm, but the question still made her wince internally.

"She's dead." Audrey looked at Embry to see what kind of reaction her answer would get.

"Oh. Oh, God," Embry breathed, horrified. "Oh, many, Audrey, I am so sorry. I shouldn't have asked and that's was completely out of line an-"

"It's okay," Audrey said. "I've come to terms with it." She shrugged and looked at the floor. Pretty tiles. _Wonder how Emily manages to keep it so clean with all these people coming through._

"But you're not completely over it, are you?" Embry startled Audrey again. She crossed her arms over her chest. Honestly, what was it with him and being so _perceptive_?

"Does it matter?" she asked. The question came out a bit sharper than she had meant. Embry watched her cautiously.

"I guess not, but…"

"Good," she quipped. "The let's drop it." Audrey mentally calmed herself down.

"What's your dad like? I bet he's better than mine."

"Don't know," was the honest reply. Audrey gave him a questioning look. "Seriously. I have no clue who my dad is."

"I'm sorry. I know how that can be," Audrey offered sympathetically. Embry shrugged.

"Eh, don't be, my mom's great. Better than two parents." They stood there together until the game finished. Audrey looked at the clock.

"Holy-! Is it that late already?" she squawked.

"What? Yeah, it's eleven thirty." Aw, crap.

"Shoot, I have to get home, I start school on Monday." Audrey rushed to the living room, looking for Emily. She made her goodbyes and promised that if she ever needed anything she would call Emily, and to stop by again sometime. Embry waited for her by the front door with an umbrella.

"I know you drove over here and you have a raincoat, but I just thought I'd help you out a little bit more," he said, holding up the extra shield. Audrey smiled and nodded her thanks. They raced out to her little old car. Embry acted the perfect gentleman and held the umbrella so that no water got into the car. Audrey rolled down the window.

"Thanks," she said. "I had…fun. See you around?" Embry nodded.

"Yeah, see you around." He loped around the front of her car, her headlights illuminating his lanky frame. Audrey cautiously drove herself home.

Inside her room she changed into her sweats before collapsing on her bed. She replayed the party to herself, although mostly she replayed talking with Embry. It was so _easy_ to be normal around him. And he was more perceptive and sensitive than most of the guys she knew. Which, granted, was a little uncanny, but she wasn't in the mood to debate it right then. Besides, he had been nice, and now she knew some people on the rez.

All in all, not a bad day…

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**So. Favorite/least favorite parts? Spelling errors? :)**

**Thanks for the reviews!**


	5. Don't Run With Knives, or Cameras

**Huzzah, another chapter! Mostly fluff and filler, sorry. Slow chapter, although really, it's not like you can do any action with this series.**

**/Usual disclaimer here.**

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"Your cat's here, Audrey!!!"

"Well, bring his crate up here then!"

"No! I'm not touching that thing!"

_You little_…several curses flew through Audrey's mind as she rolled over and looked at the clock. 10 o'clock a.m. Welp, time to get up. Maybe, or at least before Mark put the cat in the blender.

Audrey rolled over with a loud _thud_ that could be heard throughout the house. Shuffling to the door, Audrey poked her head outside. Indeed, angry cat noises could be heard coming from the direction of the front door. There a crate that could have easily held a large dog sat, raindrops glistening on the top. Audrey pattered down and looked inside. The large grey cat blinked back before letting out another yowl.

"Hey, Merlin," Audrey cooed, wiggling her fingers between the bars. Merlin rubbed his head affectionately against her fingers, purring. Audrey smiled. It was nice to have her cat with her again. "Well, let's bring you upstairs." With a grunt of effort, she hoisted the large crate and trekked up the stairs.

Inside her room Audrey plopped the crate by the closet and opened the door. Merlin trotted out and starting twining between her legs, purring. Audrey leaned down and stroked his head before delivering a warning, "Don't break anything in here, and don't go outside. You won't like the rain." Merlin just continued to purr.

Trotting back down the stairs, Audrey smelled coffee. She would need some of that, after last night. While she had fallen asleep, she had woken multiple times in the night. She never heard anything, but there must have been some noise outside to wake her. Audrey vaguely remembered hearing wolf calls in her dreams…not that it meant anything. Dreams were always nonsensical.

Mark sat at the table, leisurely eating a breakfast of toast and an orange. "You forgot to pick up meat." Audrey rolled her eyes.

"There's cold cuts for sandwiches. Besides, I'm an experimenting vegetarian, remember?" she said dryly. "Plus, I saw the note from your doctor. You're supposed to cut down on the red meats. Drastically." She pulled out cereal and milk. As it sloshed together in a bowl, Audrey remembered the e-mail Em had sent her. New pictures …maybe some of the guys would be willing to pose for some shots out in the woods? They were certainly good looking enough. All Audrey had to do was work up the nerve to talk to them. She eyed the numbers on the wall.

"Meet anyone good last night?" Mark asked, looking over the paper.

"They're nice people," Audrey commented. She chewed thoughtfully. Maybe she'd start with calling Embry. He seemed like the easy sort to call.

"Lot of boys?" Audrey rolled her eyes again.

"Probably a normal number, considering this small town."

"Too small. What was your mother thinking, living here?" Mark said scornfully. Audrey shot him a glare.

"Probably that she was about to seriously f-up her life," she said, venom dripping in her words.

Mark stared back. "Well, you shouldn't be talking." Audrey bit back the bile that started to rise in her throat. Instead she tried to change the subject.

"Don't you have work or something? I'm sure you're not really _that_ good."

"I have a lunch meeting at one," he replied haughtily.

"Good. Get out of my house then," Audrey muttered under her breath, placing the bowl in the dishwasher. She went upstairs and fished around in the closet for her camera. Merlin hopped up and started batting around the clothes that had fallen to the bottom.

"Cat, if you don't move I'm gonna shut you in there." Audrey lifted the large feline and plopped him on her bed. He curled up and watched her with yellow eyes. Back in the kitchen Audrey took out her phone. She looked at Mark.

"Aren't you going to leave soon?" she asked, heavily implying that a) there were things she needed to do and b) it would be better for both of their mental health if he left early.

"I think I will," Mark said slowly. "My allergies are starting up again."

Audrey glared. "My cat, my house. You can't throw him out."

As the door shut, Audrey flipped the phone open and proceeded to add the numbers on the wall to her cell. Carefully typing Embry's name in, she paused. Maybe she could call him. Just to, you know, have someone from the area show her the good running paths. She didn't have to ask him to pose for her _quite_ yet. Audrey bit her lip and her finger tapped against the "call" button.

With a sigh and a snap the phone clicked shut. Well, Audrey wouldn't have the guts to call for a little while yet. Maybe they'd run into each other at school or something. Audrey grabbed her house key and shoved it into her pocket.

"Merlin! Guard the house while I'm out!" she yelled. She heard a few _mrrts_ in reply. Cats.

Having ignored the part of her brain that said the rain _would_ catch up to her even under the cover of trees, Audrey had dressed into a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. Her camera was safely tucked into its bag and slung across her shoulder. Locking the door, she hid the key just above the door on the ridge. Hair pulled back, Audrey trotted off for the path behind her house.

Audrey moved at a good clip and the forest quickly enveloped her in its squishy green quiet. Her feet thumping rhythmically against the earth and her breath were the only sounds. _No birds? Eh. Too wet, I guess._

After running for a while, there was still nothing worthy of a picture. Well, Audrey would just have to find _something_ and make it look good. Maybe she should just screw the consequences and drag some of the boys out for a shoot. She let her mind drift as her body carried her easily down the winding path.

Thoughts passed back and forth. Childhood, that weird dream about coming to Forks. That beach with the rocks. Living in NYC with the crazy pace and constant motion. The comparative quietness of this tiny, nondescript, miserable little hole. The quietness now that her mother was gone.

_Her mother._ Now thoughts came about the years before her mother's death. Her mother's _suicide._ When had Audrey noticed? Two years before? Three? More? The constantly later and later times at which both parents arrived home. The late night fights behind closed doors. Amber quitting her job to stay home and do other work. The days that would pass in complete silence. The _silence_. Anger came now with the memories.

Audrey spied a flat rock jutting out of the ground in front of her. Using her anger and emotion to fuel her, she ran straight for it. When all else failed, even running, flying had always worked to clear her mind.

Run, run, run. Place the first foot on the base of the rock. The next step on the top edge and _shove_. Jump with everything in her body and tuck into a ball. Hold the camera so it didn't fall. Watch the brown of the earth turn to brown tree trunks, then green, then a tiny speck of blue, then reverse order back to earth. Place her feet out to land and-

_Crunch._ Audrey heard it in her head as she landed on her foot, rolling to the side instead of landing. Gasping as white hot lightning shot up her leg, Audrey grabbed her right ankle. Laying in a groaning mass on the damp ground, all other thoughts left. The pain worked wonderfully to clear all thoughts, but it was still pain. That is to say, not exactly pleasant.

A minute later, her ankle was only sore instead of full of searing pain. Sitting up, Audrey's first thought was: _Well damn, my shirt's got dirt on it._ Standing up gingerly, Audrey dusted off as much dirt as she could and continued carefully along. She'd have to practice - preferably in a gym - before trying _that_ method of flying again. Oh, well. Live and learn (or not).

Now that she wasn't running pell-mell down the track, Audrey realized that she had no clue where she was. Also, she'd probably run a few miles by now.

She snapped a few pictures of rain drops before coming to an opening in the path. A road ran along the edge of a cliff, and offered a clear view of the sea. Mesmerized by the pounding surf, Audrey just stood for a moment before remembering her camera. _Click, click, click._ Maybe if she continued walking along the road for a while someone would drive along and give her a lift back to her house.

Five minutes later Audrey's ankle was screaming at her. Wincing, she managed to make her way to a large rock and sit. The rock was by the edge of the cliff without being _too_ close. Audrey sat and inhaled the salt air, propping her ankle on a smaller rock nearby.

"Audrey?"

Audrey's head snapped up. "_Embry?_" she breathed. "What are you doing out here?" As much as her ankle was bothering her, it didn't escape her attention that he was wearing only a pair of cut-off shorts and sneakers. Or that he had a really nice chest. (You'll have to excuse her, she's only seventeen.)

"What are you doing out here?" Embry asked, concern crossing his face. "What's wrong with your foot?"

Audrey absently reached down and rubbed the swollen joint. "Nothing. Just a crash landing."

Embry knelt down and gently pulled her foot to him. His warm hand felt good against Audrey's cool skin, which had become damp with the light rain.

"Mind if I take your shoe off?" Audrey bit her lip and nodded, fighting the noises of discomfort that threatened to escape. "Sorry, I know it hurts." Carefully Embry cradled her foot in his palm, pressing and flexing.

"Good news, it's not broken," Embry said, standing. Audrey tilted her head back to see his face. "Bad news, you've got a pretty good sprain. Did you walk ten miles on it or something?"

"Maybe," Audrey muttered, looking away. "I don't know my way around here yet. I just took off down the trail behind my house." Embry's brow furrowed.

"And it runs straight here?"

"Kinda. It twists and turns a little bit."

"Okay. Want some help standing?"

"Please," Audrey said gratefully, taking the offered had. As Embry pulled her up, all her weight was on her good foot, causing Audrey to be pulled forward farther than she normally would have been. Her other hand flew forward to stop her from smacking into Embry, and proceeded to land on his chest. If Audrey had been the kind to blush easily, she would have. As it was, she was _very_ close to Embry. Close enough to feel the heat of his skin.

"Sorry," she muttered. Embry just nodded.

"Here." He looped his left arm around her waist, supporting her. "Sorry, you'll just have to deal with the physical contact for a bit." He smiled apologetically.

"How'd you know I don't like physical contact?" Audrey asked suspiciously. Embry gave a soft laugh.

"You stood just close enough to be polite to Colin at the party, and no closer. And in the kitchen, you stood on the far side the whole time, 'cept when I asked."

"Oh." Audrey looked down and focused on the road. "Do you know where I live?"

"I…think so? Near Colin, right?" Audrey nodded. "Okay…how well are you walking right now?"

"Like a gimp," Audrey retorted. "A gimp with physical limitations."

"Hm…" Embry hummed thoughtfully to himself. They had walked - or rather, hobbled - back to the end of the trail. "Would you kill me if I carried you?"

"What?!" Audrey squawked. She looked with wide eyes up at Embry. Her head just came to his shoulder. _Damn he's tall._ The arm that she had placed on his shoulder went tight. "Carry me?"

"Yeah. I could probably carry you, easy. You only weigh what, 90 pounds?"

"Har har." While Audrey did her best not to freak out externally, internally her mind was flipping out in every way possible. "Um, Embry-"

"I won't hurt you," he said quietly. "Promise." He watched Audrey carefully.

Audrey looked at his brown eyes for a minute and sighed. "I…guess. Just don't drop me or anything," she joked weakly.

Carefully, as if she were a tiny baby made of glass, Embry moved her arm from behind him and scooped her up. Audrey resisted the urge to curl up into a tiny ball. Despite what her friend Jen might say, being carried in a guy's arms was _not_ her idea of a very romantic gesture. Although Audrey was surprised that being carried by Embry wasn't too scary.

Embry carefully picked his way back onto the woody path, mindful of the overhanging branches and the tense girl he was carrying in his arms. Embry did his best not to jostle her, without holding her too close or too far from him. He walked with calm, steady strides, and without looking down. Embry thought that if he looked down, Audrey would disappear. Or worse, she would look back at him.

After a while, Embry spoke up. "You ran all this way?"

"Yeah," Audrey said, tense.

"With a camera?"

"Yup."

Embry whistled. "You realize this trail is five miles long, right?"

"Is it?" Audrey murmured. She leaned her head against Embry's chest, tired.

"How's your foot?"

"Better." Audrey's eyes were starting to close. When she listened, she could hear Embry's heart beating. It was a comforting sound, warm and rhythmic. Within the minute she was fast asleep.

"Audrey. Hey, Audrey!"

"Mm?"

"Where's your key?"

"Top of th' door," she muttered drowsily. "Where are we?" Audrey opened her eyes. The front door to her house was right in front of her.

"We're back at your house."

"Already?" She sat up, forgetting where exactly she was "sitting." Carefully, Embry set her on the ground, mindful of her foot. Finding the key, Embry opened the door and helped her inside.

Once Audrey was seated in the kitchen, he asked, "Do you have a first aid kit?"

"Upstairs in the bathroom on your left. Look under the sink." Embry nodded and disappeared. A minute later he was back and rummaging through the plastic box.

"Here, hold your foot out," he said. Embry crouched so that one knee supported Audrey's foot. Easily he wrapped the gauze around her ankle. Audrey propped her elbow against the table and watched. The difference in color between their skin was interesting to watch. Next to Embry's russet skin, her own took on a peachy color. A tiny bit of Embry's hair fell into his face.

"Do you do this a lot?" she asked, curious.

Embry shrugged, still wrapping her foot. "Used to have to do this a lot."

"Not any more?" Another shrug.

"Got better at running. There, done." Audrey surveyed her foot. It was neatly wrapped, and she didn't even feel any pain or discomfort. "Try and walk a little."

Audrey stood up and walked to the living room, where she plopped herself down in front of the TV. "There, I walked." Merlin came padding down the stairs just as Embry walked out of the kitchen.

"Holy-! What is that thing?!" he exclaimed. The cat hopped up to join Audrey.

"This is Merlin. Merlin, say hi to Embry," Audrey said. Merlin just curled up and started purring. "He's a Maine Coon. They're a big breed of cat." She scrolled through the channels.

"Big nothing, he's enormous," Embry muttered. The cat _mrrt_-ed, like a feline laugh. "He won't bite, will he?"

Audrey laughed. "No, he won't. He's a nice kitty." Tentatively Embry reached out to pet the cat.

"Hey…" Audrey started. "Do you…want to stay for a bit?" She looked up at Embry, who had stood up and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Is that okay?"

Audrey shrugged. "My dad won't be home for a few more hours, and I could use the company. If you don't mind, of course."

"I don't mind," Embry said. Audrey patted the couch next to her. As Embry sat down, he said, "I still don't trust that cat though. He's huge."

Audrey laughed. Embry watched as her eyes crinkled around the edges, the light of the TV adding and extra glow around the edge. After a while, Audrey fell asleep again, leaning against him.

"You really should be more careful," he murmured. Carefully he lay her down on the couch. Audrey continued to sleep. Just as Embry reached the door, he heard her mutter.

"Don't go." Embry looked back. Audrey was still asleep. He took it for sleep talking just as she spoke again.

"Please don't go…Mom."

With that, Embry took one more look before leaving and heading straight for Colin's house.

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**Well, it seems like people like Colin. Maybe he'll make an appearance soon?**

**Thanks for the reviews.**

**Saya.**


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